This 30-square-mile scenic landscape illustrates the evolution of a unique rural community. Unlike the rest of the Shenandoah Valley, where mostly Scots-Irish and German immigrants settled on small farms, Virginia Tidewater gentry occupied most of this district. These families brought with them their wealth and a slave-based economy, which they employed to build and maintain large plantations. Significant residents included Thomas Lord Fairfax, proprietor of the Northern Neck; Nathaniel Burwell, grandson of Robert "King" Carter; Gen. Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary War hero; and William Meade, third Episcopal Bishop of Virginia.